Elia Gabriëls
PhD student
Department of agricultural economics
Agri-food marketing and Chain Management
Ghent University
Coupure Links 653
9000 Ghent, Belgium
Bio
Elia Gabriëls is a Belgian political economist. She is currently working as a PhD researcher and academic assistant at Ghent University. Her work focuses on applied, multidisciplinary socio-economic analysis of agri-food supply chains, aiming to support innovation and provide evidence-based insights for stakeholders from farm to fork. With a strong foundation in international politics and institutional economics, and a commitment to societal impact, she combines academic research with real-world experience gained as a consultant to agricultural businesses. An experienced communicator, Elia is skilled at translating complex research and policy insights for diverse audiences.
Research
Her research lies within the domain of wine economics and policy. She explores how innovation unfolds within the highly institutionalised context of the wine sector, adopting a multi-level perspective that spans policymakers, producers, retailers, horeca, and consumers. Driven by a personal passion for wine, her work connects macro-level structures, such as norms, rules, and cultural identities, with micro-level behaviour and decision-making.
Her research focuses on how the wine industry responds to contemporary pressures, including shifting consumer preferences and climate change, and how this drives the need to reinvent a traditional product. In particular, she examines innovations such as no- and low-alcohol wines, studying how they challenge established norms of authenticity, tradition, and category boundaries.
Keywords
- Wine economics
- Policy analysis
- Behavioural economics
- Institutional theory
Education
Elia Gabriëls holds a Master’s degree in International Political Economy, where she focused on economic globalisation and European economic integration, alongside a Master’s degree in Economics, with specialisation in economic behaviour analysis and international economic relations. Her academic training combines a strong macroeconomic and institutional perspective with insights into individual decision-making and global economic dynamics.
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